project drivabeater 2.0: 64 el camino this time

Dusterbd13 wrote: I make me sad that I do. waw, this stuff is expensive. im going to lose my ass if I ever sell it.

On the other hand, if you forked over 11K for something, it wouldn't be the way you wanted it, or likely as nice.

I hope to come in under that number. Including the truck and the $550 tires that are sitting on it rotting now, I have maybe 7 in it so far.

keep it ten more years, you'll probably be surprised how much it goes for then.

(to both of you.) so many have rusted apart...

Dusterbd13 wrote: I make me sad that I do. waw, this stuff is expensive. im going to lose my ass if I ever sell it.

Tell folks you spent $35k and I bet they wouldn't bat an eye. Makes buying for $25k seem like a bargain.

Looking at just the pictures, would you believe 30k in it? To me it looks like a 15k car, tops. But I also built it, so I see every flaw and thing I don't like sticking out and screaming at me.

I just caught up on this, I'm not sure how I missed the update where you talked about power & the fuel pump setup. This is still one of my favorite build threads here. Color me envious.

No need to be envious. If I can do this, anyone can.

And thanks for being on the loyal reader list.

Well the asking price on this one is darn near $20K and it's probably just as nice as yours

http://bringatrailer.com/2014/11/25/1964-chevrolet-el-camino-v8-4-speed/

So I'd say you'll still be money ahead, especially if you hold it for a while.

Wow. Im pretty sure that one is nicer than mine. Its a beautiful example of the breed.

I want the tonneau cover though. I really like that.

Also, anyone have any idea what the hood inserts are from? When I get to a computer im going to take a better look, but I think i like them.

Early Camaro or Nova SS...

I think the Nova one looks better.

Not sure I like the tonneau, but it's your ride.

Also, they may have fantastic pictures, but you'd need to see it in person before deciding if it's better than yours or not.

Really good work. Love it

Thanks!

Got approval from swmbo to putter on it before tomorrow holiday festivities. Hopefully ill get the heater core and a couple other things sorted out. Would love to run it around the test loop Sunday.

" . . . so, the upcoming to do list:"

At the top of that list should be, "Tape cardboard over windshield."

I know from experience. It seems like a no brainer, what's the big deal, it'll never get hit—

But it will . . .

Got the speedo cable in, the fuel sending unit grounded, the dead wiper motors on the bench for dissassembly/repair, the leaking heater hose tightened (may not be a core), the torque converter lockup wired, and fiddled with the taillights. Still can't get the right rear to work. Time to check it at the switch.

Got the 140 amp alternator mounted, need a different pigtail to finish. Then, test drive!

so the gas gauge is still funky. I think I have the leads to the gauge reversed. brakes need a little more bleeding and the rear drums need adjusting. right rear brake light/turn signal still intermittent. and it overheated on me. but I did 4 miles, and enjoyed the hell out of it. runs strong. drives just like it should. im stoked. really, really stoked. I really wish I had the time to get it all buttoned up and ready to daily.

I think im going to be doing a couple of hours every sunday before family dinner to see if I can get it done and home.

Hurray for a drive!!!

Did 15 miles tonight. In the dark. With no tools.

Dear God this thing is a riot.

Overheating it wasn't. Faulty idiot light sender.

Goes back to the body shop next week for bedliner and for bodyman to fix some of our errors.

It was so nice to drive it again. I can't stop smiling. Hope to do about fourty or fifty more tomorrow to make sure im good to get it home.

so, budget first:

previous total: 1011.28

money spent:

23.56 for idler and belt tensioner pullies, rockauto closeout

4.56 for alternator pigtail, ebay

subtract 37.60 for the heater core I didn’t use

add 39.40 for mark iv ac unit

new jvc head unit: Christmas present from the wife

10.17 for blem elcamino emblem for glove box from ebay

61.22 for remain power steering pump

8.48 for a sheet of cloroplast

new total: 10121.07

been chipping away at this thing since my last update with great results.

first up, I changed out the dead alternator, and used a new pigtail. this alternator is a 140 amp unit from a 99 Cadillac escalade. its fricking huge, both in size and capacity. bolts in like stock though, even using all the same hardware. lights never dim at idle. ever. even with everything I currently have wired on. its fantabulous.

I've got to pull it off and clean/paint it at some point.

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then, dad and I went through a wiper motor. he went after the single speed while I watched/helped/installed HID's on his Mazda 3. it works better now than ever before after a good cleaning, regreasing, and replacing the brush wires with fresh pieces. ill do the two speed soon, and document the process. it aint rocket science, ill tell you that.

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with these two things, it was time for a test drive. fired it up, backed it out of the shop, and went the mile and a half to the gas station where I put ten gallons in it. the gauge never moved. so I've got some work to do there, as it’s a new sender, and the gauge tests out well. (it has started intermittently working since, so its a loose connection somewhere). additionally, the light on the dash came on for water temp. like it was overheating. I limped it home, and proceeded to park it back in its spot while I feared the worst. it never puked, so there was that. but the thing rand and drove well. plenty of power, trans behaves properly, etc. I was absolutely stoked. such a great feeling.

later that week, I took my laptop with winaldl running, plugged it into the aldl port, and read my DataStream. the idiot light fired off at 162 degrees. turns out they had mis-labeled the gauge/idiot light sending unit. while figuring this out, I installed a spare gauge to monitor temps of drivers side cyl head vs passengers vs thermostat location of coolant temp sensor. gauge and cts matched within a few degrees, so I felt no need to worry too much.

finally got the correct gauge, and decided to try it again. by this time, it was well past dark, briother Dustin was there, and it was cold. perfect time for a test drive.

we went out and beat it like it owed me money.

never overheated. ever. tps is only reading 67% at WOT, and we verified that even with the linkage at full short, the throttle butterflies are not opening fully. so I need to make up a new linkage rod that’s shorter.

I will say that traction is now an issue, throttle response no longer is, and I have officially decided that I will not intentionally carburete anything of mine if at all possible ever again. I LOVE the efi.

anyway, we went out and beat it for about 10 miles, brought it home and put it on the lift to give a quick inspection. found the front seal behind the harmonic balancer is leaking a smidge, a couple of minor exhaust leaks, and a trans line had not been tightened fully. all were easily correctable by tightening things except for the oil leak. still leaking a smidge, but it’s a small block Chevy. that how you know you stull have oil. waited till the next day to do a nut and bolt check, and take my dad for a drive.

the next day, first stop was a run to the parts store to return some unneeded parts and get some cash back in my pocket. this was a 7 mile trip, with two stops, one at oreilleys and one at advance. I emptied both stores and it took a total of two hours because every counter jocky wanted to see what I was building now. you know its bad when the parts guys know you well enough to ask what you're driving every time you come in, and complain when it’s the daily.

anyway, I then took dad for a test drive. he was flat impressed by the truck, and couldn’t say enough good things about how it rides, drives, and the seamlessness of the efi/automatic. he loved it. right up until that rough idle became no idle. hmm....

so instead of worrying about that, I washed it for the first time. seemed like the thing to do.

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put it back in the storage bay for a little bit to think on the idle problem. after checking everything I could think of, I decided to check the not hooked up yet egr valve. it was bad, and hung partially open, causing my idle problems. made a block off plate out of scrap metal, bolted it down, reset the ECU, and fired it up. perfection. even ran better after 10 miles of driving. unfortunately, got noisy as hell on those ten miles.

got to checking with a mechanics stethoscope, and determined that the idler and tensioner pullies was what was making that noise. pulled them off, pulled the grease seals from the bearings, cleaned them out, repacked them, reinstalled them. success!!

for another 10 miles or so then back to noisy as hell. local FLAPS wanted about 100 bucks for the parts. nope. rock auto wholesaler closeout was a little over 20 to my door. in, and quietness was mine. except for that noisy power steering pump. some left over lucas power steering in a can took care of that.

so, with some moderate success under my belt, and my trucks welcome worn thin at dads place, it was time to bring it home for the first time in well over a year. it was a nice sunny day, wife was behind me, truck was clean and running great, so lets hit it.

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70 mph most of the way. engine seemed to take more throttle to maintain that speed than I think it should, lockup converter working perfectly, little noisy with no carpet, bit drafty with huge holes into the cowl where the vent flappers should be, and no heater. great drive.

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got it home, and installed seat belts, as well as the door panels, arm rests, etc from the original interior. primarily to get them out of my way until I get to make the new ones.

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so I then start driving it around town quite a bit. want to build some confidence in it before finishing touches. first casualty is me. no heater, ambient temps in the 20's, etc. I hotwired the blower motor to a toggle, and that’s getting me by.

we also had a few single digit mornings here. this thing fires right up at that temp. its fantastic. I LOVE EFI.

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the next casualty was the whining power steering pump. failed completely, so I grabbed a reman, stuffed it in, and kept driving it. finally got all my waste oil and scrap lumber hauled off too. its nice to have my truck back.

so up next is starting the audio install (get it out of the way), sending it back to art for wet sanding/buffing/tailgate/bed liner, and then finishing the wiring up. I need to rebuild the heater controls as well, and to do so need to find one of the plastic sliders that the levers ride on. one of mine is completely missing.

so, the upcoming audio gear to install:

JVC head unit to replace the Sony (auto dimming with headlights, usb, 4 rca preouts, and I love jvc products)

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infinity reference 6.5 with baffles for the front kick panel vent locations (not shown is the chloroplast I will use to create a mounting system)

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eclipse three channel amp (two channels for the front two speakers, one channel for the sub. eclipse made some great amps back in the day. harder to find nowadays, but worth the money.)

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elemental designs shallow mount 10 inch sub (great sound quality sub. prefers a .5 cubic foot sealed box. perfect sub for rock/heavy metal/etc. I listen to it all, but these things don’t do very well with rapish bass notes. fine for techno though. these subs are long discontinued, and not easy to find)

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then after the audio is worked out, and the wiring buttoned up, I will be installing my new ebay score mar iv under dash unit. the thing is filthy, but mint. works perfect electrically, and hold a 28"vacuum well. scored it for a buck in the auction, and shipping. it also is the right depth to not kill legroom, and the blower in it is very strong. I like it.

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so I guess that brings us up to date on it. its parked outside right now, waiting to go get my new drill press tomorrow.

thanks for reading, guys.

Michael

So impressed. Everything it throws at you, you troubleshoot and check off the list. Great truck.

Cool!

if I was to buy anything gm it would be an elcamino. Aside from the efi this is pretty much perfect to me.(that's a personal choice) basically a long winded way too say nice truck!

goes to the beginning of the thread to see how much you paid for the caruck to start with...

3800.

Read the thread from beginning to end and play where's waldo with diet mt dew. New fun party game!

I had an ED sub in my RSX. It was great. Definitely didn't like rap though.

lol. I've always loved these things.

I wish the states had gotten the Australian Ranchero.

Can you see that? not sure if you have to be a member. (it's my Fathers.)